Door Slamming
by Junebugsm
Summary: What happens between Stef and Lena after Lena admits that Monty is in love with her?


**What happens between Stef and Lena after Lena admits that Monty is in love with her?**

(A request by Brandybush464 for an extended scene in **Lucky (310)** about what happened when the door slammed while Callie was in Brandon's room.)

* * *

"Stef." Lena said as she came back out of the bathroom a few minutes later. Stef was right, they did have a big day tomorrow but she felt this was more important. They needed to work things out and they needed to do it now.

"Just go to sleep Lena." Stef said in frustration.

"We have to talk." Lena pushed further. "I know you're upset but honey, I can't help it if she loves me. I don't love her."

"But you could still kiss her." Stef mumbled.

"I didn't kiss her." Lena said again. "She kissed me. I pulled away."

"And still you had to hide it." Stef said, trying hard not to start crying again. " _That's_ what gets to me Lena. Why you couldn't just tell me."

"I was just..." Lena began.

"Trying to protect me, I know." Stef interrupted, though she couldn't accept that answer.

"Honey, we were already in such a bad place, I just didn't want to make it worse." Lena explained yet again. She'd been saying the same thing over and over again but Stef just didn't seem to understand.

"So I was supposed to tell you everything but you could keep things a secret." Stef stated, understanding Lena's logic.

"That's not what happened." Lena defended. "I was protecting us."

"Yeah, well, I was protecting our daughter Lena." Stef said angrily. "I was doing everything in my power to keep her from being taken from us. She comes first, before you and you just have to accept that. You wanted my attention? Well, she _needed_ it." She was fuming now and so angry that Lena expected anything different from her.

"I know that Stef." Lena also began raising her voice, upset at what Stef was implying. "I know you were protecting her and you should have been, I just didn't approve of the way you did it and you knew that. That's why you didn't tell me."

"Well you weren't coming up with anything productive were you?" Stef shot back. "And I didn't keep it to myself because you wouldn't approve, I kept it to myself because I wasn't sure it would work and I didn't want to get everyone's hopes up. When I had a concrete plan I did tell you."

"And what do you think will happen if the judge finds out about this concrete plan of yours?" Lena questioned. "You think they'll give her to us then?"

"At least I'm trying Lena." Stef growled. "I'm trying whatever I can think of."

"And when it doesn't work?" Lena questioned again, determined to get an answer.

" _If._ " Stef corrected. " _If_ it doesn't work then I will try something else." She replied. "While you're off screwing around, I will keep trying." She threw at Lena.

"That is _not_ fair." Lena shot back. "You know that's not what I meant."

"Well, what did you mean?" Stef asked. "What did I get wrong because to me it sounded like you found some fun somewhere else while I was busy trying to keep our family from falling apart."

"We aren't falling apart." Lena said. "We're going through a rough patch, that's all."

"Really?" Stef retorted. "Callie could have been sent to live with Robert, Jesus and Mariana nearly died in a car wreck, Jude was shot at, Brandon was attacked and we lost Frankie all in one year. On top of that we are struggling to make ends meet, and you quit your job over a petty disagreement, Mike and Ana and the baby were a whole other issue we had to deal with and we have a house to run and jobs to do and then the..." Stef ranted but caught herself just in time, she wasn't ready to share the new about the mammogram with Lena just yet.

"And the what?" Lena questioned. "What else do you have to add to that list?"

"Nothing." Stef said in a calmer voice, she couldn't get worked up and let it accidentally slip.

"Fine." Lena let it go. "I get that we have a lot going on but if we don't make time for each other, we aren't going to last." She said. "We have to be honest with each other."

"No," Stef corrected. " _I_ have to be honest with you."

Lena sighed in frustration. Stef was never going to accept it. Yes, technically she'd done the same thing as Stef had done but she didn't think that they would survive had she told the truth. Stef, on the other hand, couldn't easily have told Lena what she was planning. _That_ was the difference.

"God I can't believe you dragged me to a damn therapist because you felt I wasn't communicating. When I do communicate you aren't happy either." Stef said.

"What are you talking about?" Lena questioned.

"Every time I say something you think that it's the wrong thing. You were upset when I went to talk to Robert about resigning the papers, you were angry when I tried to help Ana."

Lena was just about to interrupt, stating that Stef brought her into their home without even talking to her about it but Stef beat her to it.

"Yes, I know I didn't talk to you first but I told you that I only did it because we were supposed to adopt that baby and the house she was living in was definitely not a place we would want our child to develop." Stef reminded her, knowing that if Lena had seen the house and the area she would have agreed as well.

"Okay fine, I get that but that's still a lot of stuff to keep from me." Lena replied. "Whatever the reason, you're always keeping secrets from me."

"Well, it seems to be mutual." Stef answered.

"One thing, Stef." Lena stated. "I kept one thing from you to protect you."

"No, not just one Lena." Stef pointed out. "For ten years you never told me you wanted to get married. You started taking pre-natal vitamins for a baby you wanted to have before even telling me you wanted one in the first place. You didn't tell me that you didn't want to adopt Ana's baby and then you didn't tell me when you changed your mind. And now your relationships with Mon..."

"It's not a relationship." Lena said in frustration. She felt like Stef wasn't even listening to her. "And I never told you about wanting a marriage because you made it clear that you didn't that again and I never actually planned on having a child until the doctor brought it up so I hadn't had time to talk to you about it and then your dad died and I was waiting until after but that's when you found the box of vitamins. I was going to talk to you about it. I only started the pills because if we did decide to go ahead then I didn't want our chance to have passed."

"And what about wanting Timothy and just springing him on me?" Stef asked. "Or talking to him about it before we even agreed on it ourselves?"

"I told you, he overheard us, I never said anything." Lena replied.

"Right." Stef nodded though it was clear she was just humoring Lena.

"Okay, we've both made a lot of mistakes, are you happy." Lena snapped, desperate to just get passed it all. "I agree, I'm at fault too but can you please just let it go so we can move on?"

"Why? Because now you have no argument?" Stef questioned, her posture ridged as she stared angrily at her wife. "I gave you a list of secrets just like you kept giving me so now you can't use all your excuses?"

"They weren't excuses." Lena said, taking a step closer to the bed and to her wife.

"Keep telling yourself that." Stef snapped, turning around to go back to sleep, done with the conversation.

"Stef." Lena crawled onto the bed, trying to get Stef to work things out. "We have to discuss this."

"We have to sleep Lena, there's nothing to discuss." Stef said, refusing to even turn around.

Lena waited just a moment, wondering what exactly she should do. She knew she'd never be able to sleep until she found a way to solve this and she knew that she just had to keep trying.

"Honey..." Lena began again.

But before she could even start a sentence Stef tossed her blanket aside and jumped out of bed, charging out of the room in frustration and slamming the door behind her leaving Lena to stare at it helplessly. She just couldn't take it anymore and if Lena wasn't going to give her the space she wanted then she'd just find it somewhere else.


End file.
